Wednesday, July 14, 2010

GSS respondents were asked to rate the intelligence of various groups, giving them a score somewhere between untelligent (1) and intelligent (7). The mean ratings given by blacks and whites are shown above (sample size = 1,230).

Blacks and whites agree that Jews are the smartest. It's reassuring to see that people aren't completely clueless about reality. Blacks think Asians are smarter than whites, but whites think that they are a bit smarter. Blacks view themselves as being almost as smart of whites; whites disagree. Whites consider Hispanics to be less intelligent than blacks--that surprises me--it's possible that the fear of looking anti-black is being reflected here. The fact that whites don't give southern whites a score much higher than blacks might reveal the ease with which so many whites look down on their brothers in the South. Blacks also think they are smarter than southern whites.

So, whites overestimate their IQs relative to Asians, while blacks do so basically with everyone. They do think whites are smarter, but by only a trivial amount.

6 comments:

IHTG
said...

I think the socially extroverted aspect of intelligence (verbal intelligence if you will) is overrated by such surveys, compared to more inward-looking intelligence.Hispanics probably seem "duller" and less outgoing than blacks, even though they can actually crunch numbers a bit better.

This explanation also explains whites underestimating Asian IQ, since Asians have the opposite personality profile relative to blacks. They're a humble and reserved people with low-self esteem and high introversion.

"Whites consider Hispanics to be less intelligent than blacks--that surprises me--it's possible that the fear of looking anti-black is being reflected here."

I think a big part of that is due to Latin immigrants not being able to speak or understand English. As lazy or incompetent as a black contractor might be, white people can at least communicate with them on a basic level. Many Latinos can't offer anything more than "Que?" which feeds into perceptions of low intelligence.

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